The Lineup

Intel will initially launch quad-core SKUs on the desktop. Ivy Bridge will be branded as Intel's 3rd generation Core microarchitecture and use model numbers below 3800. The 3800 - 3900 series are reserved for Sandy Bridge E for the time being, while the 2000 series refers to last year's Sandy Bridge parts. Just like we saw with Sandy Bridge, Ivy will be available in fully unlocked (K-series), partially unlocked (any part with Turbo support) and fully locked (anything without Turbo support) SKUs.

What we know about the lineup today is summarized in the table below:

Processor

Core Clock

Cores / Threads

L3 Cache

Max Turbo

Intel HD Graphics

TDP

Price

Intel Core i7 3960X

3.3GHz

6 / 12

15MB

3.9GHz

N/A

130W

$990

Intel Core i7 3930K

3.2GHz

6 / 12

12MB

3.8GHz

N/A

130W

$555

Intel Core i7 3820

3.6GHz

4 / 8

10MB

3.9GHz

N/A

130W

$285

Intel Core i7 3770K

3.5GHz

4 / 8

8MB

3.9GHz

4000

77W

$332 est

Intel Core i7 3770

3.4GHz

4 / 8

8MB

3.9GHz

4000

77W

$294 est

Intel Core i5 3570K

3.4GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.8GHz

4000

77W

TBD

Intel Core i5 3570

3.4GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.8GHz

2500

77W

TBD

Intel Core i5 3550

3.3GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.7GHz

2500

77W

TBD

Intel Core i5 3470

3.2GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.6GHz

2500

77W

TBD

Intel Core i5 3450

3.1GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.5GHz

2500

77W

TBD

Intel Core i5 3330

3.0GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.2GHz

2500

77W

TBD

Intel Core i7 2700K

3.5GHz

4 / 8

8MB

3.9GHz

3000

95W

$332

Intel Core i7 2600K

3.4GHz

4 / 8

8MB

3.8GHz

3000

95W

$317

Intel Core i7 2600

3.4GHz

4 / 8

8MB

3.8GHz

2000

95W

$294

Intel Core i5 2500K

3.3GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.7GHz

3000

95W

$216

Intel Core i5 2500

3.3GHz

4 / 4

6MB

3.7GHz

2000

95W

$205

Unlike the initial Sandy Bridge launch, both fully and partially unlocked Ivy Bridge parts will ship with Intel HD 4000 graphics - although that's still reserved for the high-end on the desktop. I am also seeing movement towards removing core-count restrictions on turbo frequencies. Today max turbo is defined in most cases by the highest frequency you can reach with only one core active. I would not be surprised to see Intel eventually move to a setup where max turbo can be reached regardless of number of active cores and just base it on current power consumption and thermal conditions.

Chipset Support

Ivy Bridge uses the same LGA-1155 socket as Sandy Bridge. Provided there's BIOS/UEFI support from your board maker, you can use Ivy Bridge CPUs in older 6-series motherboards. Doing so won't give you access to some of the newer 7-series chipset features like PCIe Gen 3 (some 6-series boards are claiming 3.0 support), native USB 3.0 (many 6-series boards have 3rd party USB 3.0 controllers) and Intel's Rapid Start Technology.

Chipset Comparison

Z77

Z75

H77

Z68

P67

H67

CPU Support

IVB
LGA-1155

IVB
LGA-1155

IVB
LGA-1155

SNB/IVB
LGA-1155

SNB/IVB
LGA-1155

SNB/IVB
LGA-1155

CPU Overclocking

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

CPU PCIe Config

1 x16 or
2 x8 or
1 x8 + 2 x4
PCIe 3.0

1 x16 or
2 x8 PCIe 3.0

1 x16 PCIe 3.0

1 x16 or
2 x8 or
1 x8 + 2 x4
PCIe 3.0

1 x16 or
2 x8 PCIe 3.0

1 x16 PCIe 3.0

Processor Graphics Support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Intel SRT (SSD caching)

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

RAID Support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

USB 2.0 Ports (3.0)

14 (4)

14 (4)

14 (4)

14

14

14

SATA Total (Max Number of 6Gbps Ports)

6 (2)

6 (2)

6 (2)

6 (2)

6 (2)

6 (2)

PCIe Lanes

8 (5GT/s)

8 (5GT/s)

8 (5GT/s)

8 (5GT/s)

8 (5GT/s)

8 (5GT/s)

The big change this year is that all 7-series chipsets support processor graphics, while last year Intel had the silly P vs. H split until Z68 arrived and simplified everything.

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195 Comments

"there's also the question of which one (CPU or GPU) approaches "good enough" first."

I was worried that my A6 3420 laptop would feel sluggish in windows and general tasks, especially compared to my 2500k desktop system. However, I've been very surprised and think it works just fine in windows.

I was also very impressed that the iGPU lets me play most newer games comfortably. I was able to OC my A6 3420 on my Samsung 3 series to 2.0ghz. It runs Crysis 2 on low at 1366x768 in the 25-30 fps range. Now to me that is not really playable, but I was surprised it could even run it. Other games like SC2, Arkam Asylum, CSS, WOW, have all ran like a champ. Most of them even on medium settings!

So I think if you want a cheap laptop (mine was $399), and you want the ability to play some games while still doing general tasks well, we have already hit that "good enough" stage on the CPU department. It will be interesting to see if Windows 8/Metro does anything to change this.Reply

Intel needs another Larrabee. It keeps cobbling together these graphics cores, which are always well short of the mark. Either Larrabee 2 or licence from Nvidia, but something has to be done about it in the long (possible mid) term. It makes perfect sense and, to me anyway, has the air of inevitability about it.